1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for identifying a wireless device not targeted for management in a wireless communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is available as a discovery technique for detecting device capability in a network. Further, a standard protocol such as LLDP (Logical Link Discovery Protocol) has been defined by IEEE 802.1ab in recent years in order to detect the devices constituting a network. Furthermore, LLTD (Link Layer Topology Discovery) has been proposed by Microsoft in the USA. Further, with UPnP, the standardization of image transmission technologies that take QoS (Quality of Service) into account is proceeding in order to enhance the audio/visual (AV) function, namely the reproduction of audio and video in the system. Various network management techniques have been proposed using such protocols.
For example, the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-324449 discloses a technique whereby a wireless communication terminal constituting a network that receives accommodated-terminal (system load) information from an access point device and generates a neighbor AP information table. According to this technique, at the time of communication, the wireless communication terminal refers to the neighbor AP information table and selects the optimum access point device; therefore, this technique is capable of distributing the processing load of the access point device and distributing the traffic in the wireless network.
Furthermore, the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-094157 discloses a technique whereby a plurality of wireless communication terminals constituting a network that acquire identification information about other wireless communication terminals and transmits this identification information about the other wireless communication terminals to a wireless communication terminal accommodating apparatus. According to this technique, the wireless communication terminal accommodating apparatus senses the presence of a plurality of wireless communication terminals based upon the identification information of the wireless communication terminals, generates information indicating this relationship and ascertains the network topology of the overall wireless communication system.
Furthermore, the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-311576 discloses a technique whereby network topology management for a path search is implemented using identifiers of wireless communication terminals, the search being conducted among a plurality of wireless communication terminals that constitute an adhoc network. According to this technique, identifiers of a plurality of wireless communication terminals that are the target of a search in a network are included in a single path request message, and it is possible to perform path management for every wireless communication terminal by performing a broadcast within the network.
However, with each of these techniques set forth above, device configuration and capability in a network cannot be detected accurately if the above-mentioned protocols are not supported by even a single device included in the network. As a result, band control and path selection control that take into consideration wireless resources necessary for video transmission in a system cannot be carried out accurately.
Further, a wireless area subject to management cannot be identified in a case where even one wireless communication terminal (STA) is not associated with a wireless access point apparatus (AP) that does not support LLTD. In other words, if various information relating to a wireless area is inadequate, a problem which arises is that band control and path selection control that take into consideration wireless resources necessary for video transmission in a system cannot be carried out.